When the battle is over, each party dig graves for the slain. The Talbes, being desired to repair to the place stained with the blood of their brethren, ran up to perform the duties of their function. These consist in pronouncing some plaintive sounds upon a few handfuls of sand gathered together in a shell, and sprinkling it upon the unhappy persons whom they prepare for death, by placing their thumb upon their forehead, as if they were applying some holy oil, and conclude with throwing upon their bodies a scarf and chaplet. When they expire, they stretch them in a grave, always carefully laying them on the left side, with their face towards the east, as if to contemplate the tomb of their prophet. They then enclose the tomb with great stones heaped upon one another, which serve as a monument to these pillaging soldiers. The ages of their warriors are distinguished by the space of ground which their coffin occupies. The women, bathed in tears, come to throw themselves around these mausoleums. Their gestures, wry faces, and harmonious sobs, form a very ridiculous spectacle. A traveller should never pass before these tombs, without depositing there his staff; and, after a short prayer, he raises around the tomb heaps of stones, which are evidences of the vows he has made for the repose of his soul.
After these funeral rites, cries of desolation resound through the village. Every person mingles tears with those of the afflicted relations. The tent of the deceased is conveyed to another place. All his effects are exposed to the open air; and one of the fattest rams is slain to comfort the relations and friends, who offer it to the deceased in sacrifice. The repast being ended, they bury all differences. The day after the battle, I have seen them pay visits to one another. He who has dangerously wounded his neighbour the day before, goes to see him, and converses with him on the dexterity with which he seized the favourable moment to strike the blow. But what I consider as most extraordinary is, that earth is their only cure for the deepest wounds. From whatever place they take the earth, the effect is the same. In order to heal their pains, they have recourse to another expedient, which however does not always prove equally efficacious; that is, to apply red hot iron to the part affected. Indeed, these Arabs are subject to few diseases. I have seen many old people, of both sexes, who were oppressed with no kind of infirmity. Sore eyes, and colics, are the most usual disorders among them. Children, above all, are exposed to these, though in other respects strong and robust. In the morning it is difficult for them to open their eyelids. With regard to the colic, I think it is occasioned by the verdigris which is mixed with every thing they eat or drink. The reason of its not occasioning more sudden disasters, is, perhaps, the large quantities of milk which they use. The kettles in which they cook their victuals are not tinned; they never wash them, on account of the scarcity of water; so that they remain covered with a crust of verdigris, which they do not scrape away even when they scour them with sand. During my stay among them, I was desirous of taking that charge, and of rubbing, until I should clear the verdigris entirely away. But they absolutely forbad me, telling me that I should wear their kettle. It is therefore impossible but that victuals kept in such vessels must prove prejudicial to their health.
It sometimes happens that the fields of these barbarians are covered with plentiful crops. But instead of waiting till the grain attains to maturity, they cut it down, and dry it over hot cinders; without reflecting that, by pursuing this method, they deprive themselves of that abundance which is necessary for the support of their families, and of straw to feed their cattle, which, for the most part, are reduced to the necessity of browzing on dry branches of trees; and that they themselves are often obliged to eat the saddles and girths from the backs of their camels. I could not see, without regret, the little care which these barbarians take in preparing the earth. They leave the seed between heaps of stones, and among bushes, the parched roots of which absorb all the moisture of the ground, on which the waters leave a kind of mud very proper for assisting early vegetation. The person who is employed to till the ground, repairs to those spots which the rain has principally moistened, and scatters the seed here and there indifferently; after which, he turns up the earth with a plough drawn by one camel, which consequently makes a furrow of very little depth. If the moisture of the clouds happens to second his labour, each retires with his portion to some rock or cavern. In passing through more fertile cantons, I have found under my feet sheaves of corn, the full ears of which invited the most opulent Arab to collect them. Others, heaped one upon another, remained exposed to the injuries of the weather, because the proprietor found himself provided with enough to last him until the season when the vapours attracted by the mountains should fall down in torrents, and overflow the valleys.
"Is it possible," reasoned I with myself, "that any of mankind are in such a state of ignorance, as to make so little improvement of the blessings of Providence? How happy would I think myself with any kind of food suited to my taste!" I have at times taken a few handfuls of this barley, and, having cleaned the grain by rubbing it in my hands, I then eat it with inexpressible pleasure. On such occasions, I could have imagined that I was transported where the manna rained down from the sky for the support of the Israelites in the wilderness.
From any thing I could ever learn from the Arabs with whom I lived, they are wholly strangers to every kind of industrious labour, and equally unwilling to be instructed. They have only two artisans among them, and these they regard with a kind of veneration, and doubtless with astonishment, when they see them imitate in any manner the works of foreigners, for they themselves are incapable of doing any thing. A wheelwright and a blacksmith were in possession of the whole arts and sciences of the country. The knowledge of the first was exercised in making wooden dishes, mortars, and ploughs; but he has never yet been able to give to that instrument of agriculture that shape which is proper, and would make it easy for the hand of the labourer. The other labours with strength of arm upon iron, and is equally ignorant of its good and bad qualities. I have frequently seen him heat his iron many times in the fire till he had exhausted all its virtue, and then he was obliged to give it up, without making any thing of it; and if at other times he was more fortunate, he never produced more than a clumsy resemblance of the article which he wished to imitate. The same artisan wrought with equal confidence in precious metals. My master one day brought to him the chain of gold which I had given him, with orders to make rings of it for his daughter. The ignorant fellow, after having examined it, pretended that it was not gold. He compared it with a piece of a mixed metal, which he had procured from one of our wrecks, and which he insisted was pure gold. To support his assertion, he remarked that mine was of various colours, but his was real metal, and of a yellower hue. In short, after several remarks and dissertations equally ridiculous as ill founded, he came to the resolution of making a hole in a piece of charcoal, in which he enclosed it; and after having blown the fire well, he was lucky enough to melt it, and to form rings as large as the round of a snuff-box. His genius was generally admired, and he got a bowl of butter-milk for his reward.
What pains did I not take to teach them a method of grinding their barley with more ease, and of fanning it! How much have I laboured to instruct them how to load their camels, with more equal weight on both sides, in such a manner as not to hurt their sides, and to keep their instruments from being in continual danger of being broken, by falling to the ground! I wished to make them take more pains in labouring the earth, and gather in their harvest with more care; in short, I wished to polish them, but my attempts were vain; they are more conceited than their camels, (which is by no means saying little;—much have I suffered from these animals during the thirteen months I kept them!) What evidences do they give in every thing they undertake of their want of capacity! It is not possible to root out their prejudices, or correct their ill habits. I have seen in the hands of the smith the flourish of a gun-lock, with which he laboured fifteen whole days. When he had finished his work, I told him that it was so ill fitted to the case, that the person to whom it belonged could not make use of it without running great risks. All the by-standers wished me to make a trial of it, but I declined it. The workman, however, through the abundance of his self-conceit, would try it himself, and accordingly it carried off part of his jaw-bone and hand. I was convinced from what I had seen, that this gunsmith's want of skill was the occasion of many wounds which they received in battle.
Often did they question us, if there was not a gunsmith among us. They seemed to think I was one from the observations which I had made. Their arms are in the worst condition imaginable. They are in general exported guns which the Arabs of the tribe of Trargea get in barter for camels. Some tribes have procured them from ships which have been wrecked on their coasts, and some bring them so far as from Morocco. These last are more substantial, but so difficult to manage, that they prefer those from Europe; and, above all, double-barrelled guns. There is not an Arab who would not cheerfully give a Christian slave for one of these guns. When they need repair, it is done with iron which they have abstracted from ships. I was at first astonished to see with what eagerness they staved barrels of spirits (aquavitæ) for the sake of their iron hoops. I could not have supposed they could have made use of such wretched iron for that purpose. If metal and guns are objects of such value in their eyes, one can readily conceive that stones, balls, lead and powder, are far from being of little consequence with them. They can very well distinguish good powder from bad. There is a powder manufactory in the little city of Guadnum; but it is so coarse and bad, as to have often very little effect, sometimes none at all. It clogs and dirties the gun; and for want of oil, they are often obliged to grease them with butter.
If we may except these crimes which they endeavour to commit under night, these people never make a mystery of their actions. If any of them are proposing to take a long journey, they inform the whole village, who meet together to give their best advice to the traveller. Every one puts in his word, even children of fourteen years, who speak with as much confidence as an old man could do in proposing an affair of importance. These conferences, which they hold together for the purposes of either condemning or approving of one another's schemes, are sometimes prolonged for a whole month. In the same manner they consult about changing their encampment, or removing the camels to the sea-coast. This last matter is always very long of being decided upon, on account of the distance, and of what they must suffer in being deprived of milk till the return of these animals. It is true, that, in such cases, those who do not send away their camels supply those that are in want, but it is always in the view of being fully repaid, as they express it themselves. They never manifest such joy as on the return of the flocks. They come back with their interior well filled with water; and although it has contracted a taste and smell exceedingly disagreeable, it is however so scarce, that they drink it with much enjoyment.
Every person in Europe supposes that a dog would run mad if deprived of drink. In the deserts of Arabia, where the heat is excessive, they never drink any, and commonly live on excrement. The camels will subsist four months without tasting a drop of water. The goats and sheep drink still less. Indeed, if it were not for the horses, the Arabs would never go in search of water; they would wait on that which falls from the sky. The rains, which usually fall about the month of October, spread an universal joy. They keep all their holidays at this period. You can form no idea of this general happiness, having never experienced this want.
A husband cannot divorce his wife, without the previous permission of the old men of the village, who never refuse it. The women are on all occasions treated with the greatest contempt. They never assume the name of their husband, but retain that which was given them at their birth. The children are not even called by their father's name. In almost all the colonies in which I have been conversant, there are only four or five different names in use among them. They are distinguished by that of their tribe, or some other surname. When an Arab sets out on a long journey, his spouse, after having received his adieu, follows him about twenty paces from his dwelling, and throws after him the stone, which is used for driving in the pikes of their tent, and, in the place where it lies, she buries it in the sand till his return. It is thus she expresses her good wishes for a successful journey to him.